Handpicked experience · Yerevan
Yerevan, Armenia
The world's longest non-stop cable car, a hinged pillar that swayed to warn of earthquakes and cavalry, a medieval university, and a stone bridge the springs built.
A record-holding crossing high above a gorge
A cliff-edge monastery most itineraries never reach
Three more religious sites folded into the drive
A tasting at a local winery built into the day
A fourteen-hour day from Yerevan into southern Armenia to reach Tatev, a ninth-century monastery on the lip of a gorge, using the cable car that crosses to it, with three rural monasteries and a winery stop along the way.
This is one of the longest days in the country and the distance is the reason: Tatev is deep in the south, and the road turns tight and slow for the last stretch. Expect an early start, a late return and a great deal of time in a vehicle in exchange for a site most itineraries never reach.
The ropeway across the gorge runs a little over five and a half kilometres in a single unbroken span, which makes it the longest non-stop reversible cable car in the world — a record it has held since opening in 2010. The crossing takes about twelve minutes and hangs some hundreds of metres above the river. It was built largely with private money to make a monastery accessible that the road reaches only by a long detour.
In the monastery courtyard stands an eight-metre octagonal column raised in 1043, topped with a carved cross-stone and set on a hinged joint. It sways at the slightest tremor in the ground — an earthquake, or in the accounts attached to it, the vibration of approaching cavalry. It is one of the oldest surviving structures of its kind anywhere, and it still moves.
Between 1390 and 1435 this was one of the most important centres of learning in the Armenian world, with hundreds of monks, scribes and scholars in residence, teaching philosophy, theology and manuscript illumination. The scriptorium here produced work that survives in collections today. The complex was badly damaged in the earthquake of 1931 and has been under restoration for much of the time since.
Below the monastery the river runs under a natural stone arch, formed over millennia by mineral-laden hot springs depositing travertine until the two banks met. Warm pools and coloured mineral staining surround it. It is called the devil's bridge, on the reasoning that nothing else would have gone to the trouble.
Fourteen hours is the honest figure and much of it is driving on winding roads. Meals beyond the tasting are your own, as are any charges not listed in the programme. This booking cannot be cancelled once made.
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About fourteen hours from Yerevan and back. Tatev is deep in southern Armenia and the final stretch of road is winding and slow, so most of the day is spent travelling.
It crosses the gorge in a single unbroken span of a little over five and a half kilometres, making it the longest non-stop reversible cable car in the world since it opened in 2010. The ride takes around twelve minutes.
An eight-metre octagonal column raised in 1043 on a hinged joint, topped with a carved cross-stone. It moves at the slightest tremor — an earthquake, or by tradition the vibration of approaching cavalry.
It was. Hundreds of monks and scholars were resident in the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries, and the teaching covered philosophy and theology alongside the copying and illumination of manuscripts.
The complex was badly damaged in the 1931 earthquake, losing structures including the dome, and restoration work has continued across much of the time since.
An arch of travertine laid down over millennia by mineral-rich hot springs until the deposits met across the river. Warm pools and coloured mineral staining surround it.
No — it cannot be cancelled once made, so the date needs to be settled first.